Computer Mishap Delays Space Station Supply Ship

WALLOPS ISLAND, VA - SEPTEMBER 18: In this handout from NASA, the Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard, launches from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility September 18, 2013 in Wallops Island, Virginia. Cygnus is on its way to rendezvous with the space station. The spacecraft will deliver about 1,300 pounds (589 kilograms) of cargo, including food and clothing, to the Expedition 37 crew. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)WALLOPS ISLAND, VA - SEPTEMBER 18: In this handout from NASA, the Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard, launches from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility September 18, 2013 in Wallops Island, Virginia. Cygnus is on its way to rendezvous with the space station. The spacecraft will deliver about 1,300 pounds (589 kilograms) of cargo, including food and clothing, to the Expedition 37 crew. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A computer problem has put off the arrival of a private company’s new cargo ship at the International Space Station.

Orbital Sciences Corp. says its Cygnus capsule will not pull up at the space station as planned Sunday morning. The Virginia-based company says the two orbiting vessels established direct contact early Sunday. But the Cygnus rejected some data, which interrupted the entire rendezvous.

Orbital Sciences says it is working on a software repair, but it will be at least two more days until another approach is attempted.

This is the maiden voyage of the Cygnus, which rocketed away from Virginia on Wednesday. It’s carrying 1,300 pounds of food and clothes. If necessary, it could keep orbiting the world for weeks, even months, before pulling up at the orbiting lab.